During the Olympics, there has been a lot of talk about Michael Phelps winning and everyone else just playing for second. The main person that this discussion has been focused on has been Ryan Lochte, where he basically came out and said he would be Michael Phelps if it weren't for there already being one.

To combat the last few days of the off season, I wanted to start a discussion on that premise. What would things have been like if not for ----, fill in the blank. If not for Michael Jordan and the Bulls, the 90s would have looked very different. We can see a small sample of that when Houston won back-to-back when Michael "retired". Where else can we see an incredible athlete that constantly takes a back seat to an even more incredible one.

I just recently watched the 30 for 30 on Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, it isn't quite the same but Chris gives a vibe that if not for Martina, she would have dominated tennis for a long time. I even came across an article that came out about a month ago that discusses the impact of Durant heading west. In it KD talks about always coming in 2nd place, so it's easy to see how great someone would have to be to beat out KD constantly. Here is the article.

What are some more examples of the greatest athletes you've ever seen that were overshadowed by someone even greater? It's all about timing, who are your 2nd bests?